Melky Cabrera’s story was too good to be true, too tainted to pass a drug test and all too hauntingly familiar for a franchise cursed by steroids.

You thought the Giants and their fans would never go through the wringer with a star left fielder again?

You believed the joy and sunny good tidings of the 2010 World Series and the post-Barry Bonds era would last forever?

The answer was provided in sledgehammer form less than an hour before Wednesday’s game at AT&T Park: No, the dark cloud is back over the Giants and everything they have achieved or might accomplish in 2012.

So why am I so bummed out that the San Francisco Giants are in the World Series?

The answer to that question is simple. I'm not really sure they deserve to be there. The Giants took the National League West after using Melkey Cabrera for more than half the season. As you know, The Melkman was found to have cheated the game by failing a drug test. He was suspended for 50 games, but the Giants had, by the time of the suspension, amassed a pretty good record. The Giants were not penalized and I have to wonder if they should have been.

They garnered many of their victories using a player who contributed mightily but was cheating as he did so. The Giants also will have home field advantage, again thanks in no small part to Melky Cabrera. He was the MVP in the midsummer All Star Game. Baseball, for reasons I still don't quite understand, gives the home field advantage to the league that wins the All Star Game.

So if the Giants win the 2012 World Series, will it be deemed fair? I have never been a fan of asterisks and I'm not proposing to use one here, but at the very least the title will be a little tainted if the Giants win.

The San Francisco Giants defied the odds, and came back from an 0-2 deficit against the Cincinnati Reds in the division series, came back again against the always seemingly carried-by-fate St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, and then pulled off an unlikely World Series sweep of the mighty Detroit Tigers.

The question is, should they have even been there?

Amidst the dog-pile of black and orange humanity in the middle of Comerica park tonight, a lot of people seemed to have memory lapses. Remember Melky Cabrera? You know…the San Francisco Giants outfielder who admittedly took PEDs and was handed down a 50-game suspension from MLB. The guy who pretty much single-handedly got the National League an All-Star game victory, securing home field advantage for…you guessed it, the Giants.

When there are rule violations in high school or college, the governing bodies go after the individual player and the team they play for. Games, awards, and titles can be forfeited, taken back, or vacated. Why are we so tough on the amateur athletes and their teams, but then so light on professionals?

The PED penalties that are in place right now hurt the individual player but not the team. The team and organization still profit and benefit from having a cheater in their midst. The steroid user helps the team's record while he can. More people buy tickets, souvineers, concessions, and the team gets into the playoff race. Once the cheater is found out, only he is penalized. The team goes on with the current momentum and standing they had while having the cheater play.

Can you imagine how strict each organization would be on testing their own players if the MLB policed themselves like the NCAA? Imposing fines on clubs that break rules. Post season bans. Forfeiting games.

I know this will probably never happen. But I have to believe after this World Series and the dark cloud around it, changes should be looked at.